According to Apple’s Legal Process Guidelines, there is a lot of data that the company can provide to law enforcement.
How to Protect Compromised Private Keys
Private keys are a crucial part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. However, in recent times, some of those have been compromised. Qredo CEO Anthony Foy shared his suggestions on how to protect them.
Bitcoin lets you be your own bank by holding your private keys, but as the cryptocurrency industry has developed, this idea has become diluted. Many cryptocurrency users now choose to surrender their private keys to third party custodians. This has brought trust back into a trustless system—with fatal effects. Cryptocurrency’s short history is littered with massive losses, where the private keys controlling millions have been stolen from exchange wallets, pilfered by scam artists, and embezzled by trusted custodians. Even those individuals who have stayed true to the spirit of Bitcoin and kept their own private keys have still suffered, with dodgy wallets, silly mistakes, and even a series of ‘horrible boating accidents’ all leading people to lose their cryptocurrency.
Apple Cancels iCloud Encryption Plan Due to FBI
Apple had plans to introduce end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups, but canceled it two years ago after the FBI complained.
Clearview AI Helps Law Enforcement With Facial Recognition
In a long read from NYT, Kashmir Hill writes about a startup called Clearview AI that works with law enforcement on facial recognition.
You take a picture of a person, upload it and get to see public photos of that person, along with links to where those photos appeared. The system — whose backbone is a database of more than three billion images that Clearview claims to have scraped from Facebook, YouTube, Venmo and millions of other websites — goes far beyond anything ever constructed by the United States government or Silicon Valley giants.
iPhone XS and XS Max Available Now For $699
The iPhone XS and XS Max are currently available from $699 on the refurb store – $200 down on the original retail price.
TMO Contributor Kelly Guimont (#9) - TMO Background Mode Interview
Kelly Guimont is a long-time podcaster, Contributing Editor for The Mac Observer, the host of the Mac Observer’s Daily Observations podcast, and a tech support guru.
In her 9th appearance, Kelly and I chat about our favorite TV shows and movies of late. We open in segment #1 with a shared favorite: The Mandalorian (Disney+). In segment #2: Kelly: Dr. Who (BBC), The World According to Jeff Goldblum (Disney+). John: Star Trek: Discovery (S2) (CBS), Virgin River (Netflix) and Downton Abbey – the movie (iTunes). Also: some honorable mentions. Join us as we explore together what’s great about these shows.
Game Picks, News Roundup – TMO Daily Observations 2020-01-20
Andrew Orr and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to discuss their new favorite games, listener mail, and some recent news stories.
Tim Cook Calls For Reform of Corporate Tax on Visit to Ireland
Tim Cook received an award celebrating Apple’s 40 years of investment in the country and called for global corporate tax reform.
Samsung Names New Mobile Chief to Hold Off iPhone Challenge
On Monday, Samsung named the new exec who will lead its efforts to hold off the challenge from Apple’s iPhone. Bloomberg News reported that Taemoon Roh will now lead its mobile division, the world’s biggest mobile devices business.
Roh, who was formerly the unit’s No. 2 executive, will take over the top job from Koh Dong-Jin from Monday. Koh remains head of the Korean conglomerate’s IT and mobile communications division but hands the reins of smartphones over to a lieutenant credited with building up the marquee Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets. Roh, a two-decade veteran of Korea’s largest corporation, is regarded internally as an engineering maven who’s meticulous about phone features.
Slack Has Not Made us More Productive
Slack, the popular desktop and mobile messaging service, promised to help us avoid endless work emails and make us all more productive. However, as Wired reported, it has brought with it its own productivity issues.
The app may have a loyal band of followers but neuroscientist and lecturer, Lucas Miller is certainly not among them. As a lecturer at Haas School of Business at Berkeley University and co-founder of productivity consultancy, Stoa Partners, Miller warns students and clients on the dangers of getting hooked on Slack. “Technology advances usually supplant what has come before but Slack hasn’t, it’s just doubled the pain,” he says. The problem, Miller explains, goes beyond the inconvenience of monitoring another inbox. He sees Slack as a particularly “scary offender” in stopping people getting their work done because it encourages them to be constantly distracted. It’s scary because messenger-based systems directly tap into how humans seek to reward themselves, and the long term result is unhealthy.